boy: we should put on some, uh, music. girl: christmas music. stacie: you will get paid for working on christmas. great teamwork, by the way. great teamwork. (people talking in background) stacie: hi. - hi, how are you? - not bad, and yourself? ty: what's your name? stacie: i'm stacie. - i'm ty. - nice to meet you. - nice to meet you, too. mike: mike. stacie: we're filming a documentary on rutland. - okay. - yeah. it started out being about the refugees, and then we, you know, kind of picked me up along the way, and now we're filming the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifference, all of it. woman: neighborworks northwest rutland youth employment initiative. we are inviting all of you to help

support and promote that effort. stacie: "you are invited. "this meet-and-greet opportunity "is for northwest neighborhood residents to talk "with one another about their hopes and dreams for our neighborhood." alicia ayles: hi, olivia! olivia: hi, nice to meet you. ayles: great to meet you. stacie: olivia is going to be the youth spokesperson. - oh, tomorrow? - for sunday. boy: those look so good. tyler: no, i wasn't, i had anger management. devin: you had what? tyler: anger management. devin: oh, how's that going? tyler: good, i'm getting better. stacie: oh, they are beautiful! ♪ stacie: come in! make yourself comfortable, please. my home is your home. so my favorite show in the whole entire world is "golden girls."

oh, i love that theme song. ayles: ♪ thank you ♪ for being a friend - absolutely. - ♪ traveled round the world and back again ♪ tyler: i cannot aim. stacie: i feel that if you want your actions to change, your thought process needs to change. look at the refugee families. a lot of what they are coming from might not necessarily be drugs or alcohol, but it's war. - yeah. and pain. - displacement. - yes, that was our, remember, it was our theme of displacement, - disorganization. - mm-hmm. - chaos. discontent. - upheaval. - very good word. and i just feel there is a lot of common ground here, and i feel that it would've been a great way to tackle both issues head-on. - i guess i just don't understand how we can't do both.

- so in my opinion... - is that too large of a thing? - in my opinion, is, we can't care for rutland if we don't do both. - well, there it is. i agree. (train approaching) (train horn blaring) (people talking in background) merdzanovic: welcome, it's so good to see you. (people talking in background) tomorrow is exactly a year since hussam and huzar and ahmed and mohassen arrived. they love rutland. they see rutland as their home. um... you know, there's no easy way to get into what i'm about to share with you.

a total of 33 syrians, three-three syrians, arrived in october, at the beginning of october. and then the muslim ban 3.0 went into effect, so... morgan: and that was to the entire u.s. merdzanovic: right, nationally. - the whole country. 33 for the whole country. merdzanovic: yeah. the language that they're using is, "we are zeroing you out as a site." so, it's not great news. hunter: well, is there anything that we can do? we're still playing the waiting game, it sounds like. we're just gonna try to wait for things to change. i mean, i'd like to feel that there's something positive... (chuckling): ...and proactive and... ...that we can do. i think, as rutland welcomes, we got to figure out what we're going to do with the donations at some point. you know, i think that's a practical thing. woman: we'll think about that as a group.

♪ (water trickling) stacie: it's one of them days. hi, so i think tyler's having a rough day. well, i know, i don't blame him, you know. there's no food in the house, you know, and it's trashed, and, you know, it's hard times.

(voice trembling): and you know, like i told him, it's us as a family, it's not anybody individual. and that's exactly how we're going to get through it, is us as a whole, as a family. ♪ i was raised in the system. i'm trying to break that cycle. (crossing signal clanging) but there's always going to be that fear. i (bleep) hate answering machines. (phone ringing) hello? okay, so what does that mean? i have no idea, like, what any of this means or anything. woman (over phone): i will tell you, so, if there is still money owed, then the landlord will probably ask the court for a judgment.

so do you still owe more money beyond... - no, we just owe the $910. so, so what you're telling me is, i need to get that $910 paid before the 11th. woman: plus the cost of the landlord for filing the case, which is $295. - are you serious? woman: yeah, i am. - for a month. (laughing): is there any laws protecting tenants in this state? woman: uh, i mean, yes, but you know that... they're also going to want to, you know, look for their attorney's fees, but you can push back on that because (inaudible), you don't have to pay attorney's fees to resolve the case. by paying what you owe, in other words, sort of like paying, pay the money and then stay, which is what you're hoping to do. so paying and staying unfortunately does include cost, but it does not include lawyers' fees. - no, no. there's so much other stuff going on that right now,

you know, i just want to get the $1,205 together before we go. and that's the best i can do at this point. thank you. (sighs) (shovel scraping) all right, so now i'm intimidated. somebody's got to tell this story, right? (people talking in background) are you kidding me? why me? (laughing): are you kidding me?

i can't find my outline. man: good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to project vision. all right, stacie. - hi, thank you. i just wanted to start by saying thank you for the time. i kind of want to change gears a little bit. i want to talk about an eviction process that i'm having a personal experience with. so what happened was, we, we got behind a month in rent, and we received an eviction notice to show up in court. what i'm trying to understand is, why a month? most of the time, it's several months behind before an eviction process starts, from my understanding. yes. - it sounds like it was a complete surprise to you that in one month... - yes. - ...things could unravel so quickly, especially around housing. - yes. - i am shocked to hear that myself. - yes, i agree and that's why i'm standing here.

thank you very much. what i would like to see happen is them bridges get built. - that personal experience... ryan: you know my place of employment, we work with people who are in poverty every single day. we see homelessness, homeless kids, people living out of their car. yet they're the same people that would do anything for anybody. stacie: thank you. thank you, i appreciate that, thank you, guys. (audience applauding) - i'm lisa ryan. - hi. - hi, i'm a rutland city alderwoman on the board of aldermen, and i also work at broc. - oh! - and i wanted to give you my card, because i really appreciate you sharing your story and... - thank you. - you can contact me for any resources that we do, and i'd be happy to help you. - oh, thank you so much. - so thanks so much for sharing your story. - thank you, nice meeting you. ryan: when i actually first heard stacie's story, i was, like, really upset because i was, like, "we could've done that in half a day,

got her what she needed and her family." but these folks who are living in poverty and don't easily get all the basic needs that some of us are fortunate to have, it's hard to ask for help when you don't have people supporting you from the beginning. i just wonder, like, how many more stacies are there, and how do we get them to show up, and how do we meet their needs, and how do we make people feel welcome, really. i haven't figured it out. (train horn blaring in distance) (dog barking) (people talking in background) stacie: okay, so i'm very nervous. ayles: okay. - because i don't, i've never been in a situation with the difference in culture like this.

- you won't feel that way. - and i don't want to disrespect them in any way, shape, or form, you know what i mean? like, that's my biggest fear. - they are so grateful just to have people come, and sit, and visit with them, and be in their home. - really? - oh, yes. my only thing would say is, just be yourself, and listen. and they'll, and they, she wouldn't have invited us if she didn't want us to just sit, and enjoy her home, and enjoy her baklava, and... - oh, okay. - so truly, they're very, very down to earth. - okay, cool. - and you love children. - absolutely. - their children will be very wonderfully active. just be yourself. hi, shami! (kids calling) fatema, you look so beautiful. ♪

stacie: i didn't think i'd make it to 30. i didn't think i'd make it to 20. (cheers and applause) but i couldn't imagine packing up my family and leaving just to try to stay alive. i don't want to imagine that. just the courage, it gives me hope. (fireworks exploding) if they can do this, and make it through this in a place they don't know anything about, i sure the hell can.

♪ (sighs) why? i have to keep my wrapper. what's hard is having it in my hand and not being able to do anything with it. james: you got this. - for now. i feel so nauseous. - so i'm gonna let you hold this. - i want it at me, right? - you can just film out the window. you don't have to put it on yourself. - oh, thank you. - yeah. - most places, it's three days they make you withdraw.

they want to make sure you're at the proper dose. oh, my goodness, this sucks so bad. (sighs) okay. - bye, stace. - see you at 1:00? - yeah, call me. - thank you, i will. ♪ stacie: i'm very grateful to start working a program again and not have to get suboxone off the street. it might not be a medication that i'm ever able to get off. but i understand that it's something i need. ♪ i'm not broken. and a lot of us addicts are not broken.

we're doing what we can. hannah: everything is in here. come on in. stacie: wow, look at all this, this is amazing. - yes, and there's more upstairs. - really? - winter coats. if folks in the community had need, i didn't hesitate to pull from. - that's amazing. - well, it's there. it's silly for them to sit someplace. - right, right, right. - i will never let a child go without the clothes they need or the food they need. - absolutely. ♪ we'll get you off the floor to begin with, because you're very beautiful, and someone will really appreciate you. - what a team! this is great.

good morning! woman: how are you? stacie: i do have a few people in the community that are desperately in need of a few things, such as, like, curtains, you know, and things like that. i have one woman who for the longest time could not even have knives in her home because of her eldest son. all right, here you go, ladies. here's a few to get you started. hi, i'm stacie. woman: hi, how are you? stacie: nice to meet you. ♪ (talking quietly) stacie: wow, this is huge, this is amazing. - look at that, light work with a lot of hands, right? stacie: absolutely. - that was an hour. stacie: that's it? - it does, it's wonderful. - this is the real rutland. - yup. - this is it... ♪

(kids laughing and calling) ♪ stacie: get shami! go get shami! ah, shami wants you to get her, uh-oh, you got her now! oh, thank you, that's so sweet. sham, sham is sharing with emma. that's so sweet! - no, you're going to be next! (kids playing) stacie: that's your name! hi, honey. yeah, i can give you another push. (kids playing)

louras: so, val, where's the cigars that are on deal? val: in there-- don't you see my sign? louras: judy didn't know you had cigar, wooden cigar boxes to give away. val: she didn't? (val laughing) louras: you like that picture, jim? about 20 years ago, there was an earthquake in greece. my father takes that picture, puts it out front on the counter here, and says, "please help the victims of the earthquake in greece," with a bucket. and people just start putting frickin' money in that. well, you know it's us. it's me, val, niko, and our next-door neighbor. and my dad put it out there to get donations for the kids in... and my mother... val: my mother lost her mind. - she lost her (bleep). - lost her mind. (laughing) (dolly wheels rattling) you said milk and almond? woman: yes.

louras: change is hard. but we can't keep going on the path of economic stagnation, cultural stagnation, without some really bad things happening and without losing our sense of community. use it or lose it, baby. - that's right. and i'm using it-- all right, see you. - be safe. all right. (sighs) louras: in ten years, we could become one of those communities that i saw when i was in the military, where everything in the downtown is closed up. - oh, golly, no, i don't know. let me put you back up to valerie. (phone beeps) (calls out): did you forget you had her on hold? louras: we've been in the trough. and hopefully, the community will come out of that trough, but we don't know. only time will tell that one.

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